Holidays At Sinai

When we celebrate the Jewish holidays at Sinai, our religious services connect us with the spiritual aspects, and we also have fun celebrations to connect us to their pure joy. Below is a brief definition of each holiday, and their date(s) in the Jewish year 5777 (2016-2017).

Rosh Hashanah
September 21-22, 2017

Rosh Hashanah celebrates the JewishNew Year, and begins the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im ("Days of Awe"). Rosh Hashanah is a two day holiday. We hear the shofar (ram's horn) being blown during services, and eat apples dipped in honey.

Yom Kippur
September 29-30, 2017

Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret
October 4-12, 2017

Sukkot (Festival of Booths) is a seven day celebration to remind us of our ancestors wandering for 40 years in the desert without a fixed home, and of gratitude for the harvest time when farmers lived in temporary structures in their fields. When we eat and/or sleep in our sukkah or "booth", it also gives us empathy for the homeless in our community.

Chanukah
December 12-20, 2017

The eight day Festival of Lights starts the night before Thanksgiving this year. We remember and give thanks for a miracle: a small group of Jewish Maccabees defeated the Syrian Greeks and reclaimed the Temple, and one vial of pure oil lit the Temple menorah for not just one day but eight days until more oil could be made. We light candles in our own menorahs each night, and eat foods made with oil, such at latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiot (filled doughnuts).

Purim
Thursday, March 1, 2018

Passover
March 30-April 7, 2018

This eight day holiday begins with Passover seders, the special dinners and retelling of the story of our exodus from Egypt and deliverance from slavery. We eat matzah (unleavened bread) and other special foods all week.